Joan MacNeil

MacNEIL, Joan January 27, 1950 - December 17, 2018 Gordon, Bruce, and Andrew are sad to announce the death of wife and mother Joan Mary MacNeil, on December 17, 2018. Joan was born to Simon Bogstad and Katherine (Crawford), in Edmonton. She was raised on a farm near Stony Plain, and studied at University of Alberta (BSc - Nursing). After a couple of years nursing in Canada, she went as a volunteer with the Canadian Medical Association to St. Lucia. There she met Gordon and they married, in Castries, in 1974. In 1978 Joan relocated from Ottawa to Senegal, where she worked on various assignments and in 1981 she returned to Canada to complete a Masters degree (Health Sciences) at McMaster University. Joan then worked for the Canadian Nurses Association in Ottawa as International Affairs Manager and in 1988 moved again to Africa with Gordon, this time in Cote d'Ivoire. There she managed an HIV-AIDS care and management project for the International Council of Nurses. This became the foundation for her next academic challenge which was a PhD in Nursing at Wayne State University (Detroit). For the next decade Joan continued with her work on health care policy in the United States, Asia, and elsewhere. In 2003 she joined the World Bank as Senior HIV-AIDS Specialist. In late 2005, Joan and Gordon returned finally to Canada, settling in Victoria, where Joan joined the faculty of nursing at University of Victoria until she retired in 2013. Sadly, fairly soon after her retirement, Joan's illness became evident, which soon robbed her from fully enjoying the fruits of her many years of accomplishment and a fulfilling retirement. For the last year and a half of her remarkable life, Joan was resident at Glengarry Hospital in Victoria where she received outstanding care, after it became impossible to adequately care for her at home. Joan leaves behind, besides her heartbroken immediate family, grandchildren Matthew, Alexia, Abigail, Shane, Ella, and Athea, sisters Margrete and Ruth, daughters-in-law Leeann MacNeil and Shenen MacNeil, brother-in-law Colin MacNeil, sisters-in-law Phyllis Nicholson and Donna Haynal, cousins, nieces and nephews, and countless friends in many countries. There will be a Memorial Service in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive on Friday, January 11, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. A reception will follow. Tributes, if desired, may be made to the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation, 1454 Hillside Ave, Victoria V8T 2B7. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallgardens.com